Before You Sign on the Dotted Line….
- The Publisher – Do they have your best interests at heart? Does your book “fit” with their existing list? Are you satisfied with the relationships you have built with that publisher?
- The Deal – Make sure you read any contract carefully before you sign. Does that offer you’ve been made match industry standards? Have you done the math – and fully understand –the amount of money you’ll be making per book? Have you figured out the number of books that must be sold for you to earn back your advance?
- The Marketing—While many people believe that a marketing plan should come with the contract, that’s simply not the case. Publishers, and editors, are too busy to develop a marketing plan for each book they take on. However, you can do some digging on your own.
- Request a Catalog – have you heard of the Publisher’s books? Specifically, can
you research some of the books they’ve published in your same category and find
out if they’ve received any press - Speak with a Publicist – it’s perfectly appropriate to request 10 minutes of a publicist’s time to find out if they have experience working with your type of book and find out their “generic” marketing plan for your category.
If you’re satisfied with the publisher, the deal, and the marketing department, it’s time to move to the contract. If you don’t have an agent, we’d strongly suggest that you get a second set of eyes to review your publishing contract. Unfortunately, your family lawyer probably isn’t qualified to do it for you. Talk to other authors. Get online to check out publishing contracts. Call a consultant. Make sure that you’re getting outside advice on what you should be asking for.
Finally, don’t ever be afraid to negotiate. While the reality is the publisher may not be able to meet all your demands, you won’t know until you ask.
Advice for Self-Help Authors Looking for an Agent or Publisher
Yesterday, The Cadence Group received an email from an e-book Self Help author who wanted some advice. She says she will soon be looking for an agent and wanted to know where to start. My intrepid partner, Bethany Brown, offered her this great advice:
1. If your plan is to seek a publisher or agent in the near future, you need to start building your platform right away. In particular, if you’re writing nonfiction. It’s important to make sure that you – and your book – stand out in a crowd. A great way to do this is to start blogging, build a website, write articles for newspapers and magazines, and perhaps try to secure some speaking engagements and/or workshops using some of the ideas from your book.
2. Start thinking about your book proposal now. There are a lot of great books out there to guide you through the process. But a good book proposal requires a lot of research and planning. Mapping out the elements now will help you “fill them in” as you do your competitive research, build your platform and think about your marketing plans and strategy.
3. Get to know your category. Your book will only be shelved in one place in the bookstore. Make sure you understand your competition. How do you differentiate yourself? Is there a market for your book? Do you have a unique hook? Does your book “fit” with your category in regard to length, content and packaging.
4. When you’re ready to move on to trying to find an agent or publisher, might I recommend that your first stop be your local bookstores. Pull out books that are similar to yours and/or that you really like. Check the acknowledgement page. A good agent will often be thanked by the author in the acknowledgements. Look at the copyright page. Who published the book? Make a list of your top 10 – 15 agents and publishers and go home and check out their websites. Do they accepted unsolicited proposals? What format do that want to see your proposal in? Do they prefer a query letter as first contact? Pay close attention to their requirements and follow them – you don’t want to be discounted from the outset for a minor mistake.
5. Always make sure you research any agent and/or publisher before agreeing to work with them.
How to Write a Book Proposal, Michael Larsen
Nonfiction Book Proposals Anyone Can Write, Elizabeth Lyon
How to Get a Literary Agent, Michael Larson
Write the Perfect Book Proposal: 10 That Sold and Why, Jeff Herman
Writer’s Market 2008
Jeff Herman’s Guide to Book Publishers, Editors & Literary Agents 2008: Who They Are! What They Want! How to Win Them Over!
THE TRUTH about Amazon.com
I am thrilled to welcome Dr. Barbara Holstein to New Shelves. Dr. Barbara is the author of several books including her latest, The Truth. I asked Dr. Barbara to share with us her experiences navigating the world of Amazon.com.
Over the last several months, Dr. Barbara’s book has steadily grown in rank and increased in sales through Amazon. The sales and success can be traced directly back to her efforts on the site as a participant in their numerous discussion groups and using the tools they offer. We could all learn a lot from her.
So, with that, I encourage you to enjoy this short and helpful article about her experiences on Amazon.com:
If you ever want to experience a deep forest with wild rivers and secret caverns, without even leaving home, I suggest you take a trip to the Amazon. That is www.amazon.com .
It is an amazing place. I’ve been visiting it on and off for more than a year and I am still getting to know my way around. When my newest book came out last January, THE TRUTH (I’m Smart, I’m a Girl and I Know Everything), The Cadence Group suggested that I have a profile page and do reviews of other authors.
Since that time I have created a profile page, have reviewed about 70 books by other authors, and am still doing reviews as often as I can.
I have started a few discussion groups and posted answers to others.
Also, I have tagged my own book, with explanations. When I have been able to chat with someone who may be reviewing my book later, I remind them to make sure to Tag.
All of these steps have taken a lot of time and effort. I don’t know which of these steps has benefited THE TRUTH (I’m a Girl, I’m Smart and I Know Everything) the most.
That’s the thing-it is a trip into the Amazon, and like any adventure into the great unknown, we don’t always know what is working and what is not. But I can tell you, have faith and take the adventure. You will have a lot of fun and for sure your book’s Amazon rank will profit. My book was #13 a few days ago in the top 100 for BEING A TEEN. That is a great reward for taking a trip into the unknown!
I wish you great success and happy adventuring.
Dr. Barbara Becker Holstein,
http://www.thetruthforgirls.com/ , http://www.enchantedself.com/
Psychologist, Happiness Coach and Author
Book Marketing
Book Marketing is the act of letting the end user, the reader, know that your book is available and where to find it. Successful books are marketed in a manner that results in a reader purchasing your book and taking it home. A well-marketed book starts with a well-written marketing statement
Starting with the Basics:
To create a truly effective marketing statement, start with the Who, What, Where, When, Why, and How.
- Who will actually shell out the money to buy your book? Outline their age, finances, gender, and circumstances.
- What makes your book worth the consumer’s dollars?
- Where will your readers find your book?
- When will your readers need your book? At what point in their lives will they need your book?
- Why is your book more appealing than others in the same category are? (Be brutally honest here. Do you compete on price? Is your information more up to date?)
How will your potential readers find out about your book?
Your Positioning Statement
Get all this down on paper and look at it. You are now prepared to write your book’s positioning statement. When you are ready to present your book to the world (readers, bookstores, publicists, buyers, etc.), the most important tool in your arsenal will be the positioning statement. This statement is 100 words that outline for a potential buyer the reasons why your book will be of interest to their clients.
These 100 words should not outline what your book is about. This statement exists to talk about the potential market for your book and how you, as the publisher, plan to reach that market.
For example, if you have identified your core readership as business executives looking for a new job, your positioning statement could look something like this:
Shut Up and Hire Me is a step-by-step program designed for the busy business executive. Each chapter was written and designed to be read in less than ten minutes. Unlike other career guides on the shelf today, Shut Up and Hire Me draws from the wisdom and experience of CEOs from more than thirty Fortune 500 companies. Interviews, combined with proven techniques, are provided to help executives find and land their next position. Author Bill Billiam has hired top New York PR firm, Blown Out of Proportion, and is the author of such previous works as: Better Dead than Unemployed and More Money for Less Work.
Try it and see what you can come up with!
Do You Have What it Takes to Be Published?
It is every writer’s dream to see his or her book in the front window of the local bookstore. It is fun to imagine tall, colorful stacks of your books surrounded by throngs of curious readers flipping through the pages while others rush to the cash register with their copy.
Feel free to continue this fantasy as you finish your manuscript, but in order to make that dream come true, the time is coming when you have to stop thinking like a writer and start thinking like a publisher.
Whether you are going to publish the book yourself or work to have it published by a mainstream publishing house, believe it or not, writing the book was the easy part. Your work is just beginning.
The first step on this journey to being published is to realize that for publishers, the dream location is not the bookstore shelf; that shelf is simply a short stop on the way to the real destination … a reader’s bookshelf.
The only bookshelf that truly counts is that of the consumer.
If you’re truly serious about getting your book published, then you need to shake off the fantasies and take a good, hard look at the challenges ahead. This isn’t meant to discourage you. On the contrary, the better prepared you are, the more successful you will be in reaching your goal.
The path a writer’s work takes through the publishing process, into the retail market, and then onto a consumer’s bedside table is arduous. I know that, as a writer, you are enthusiastic about your work and determined to see it through to book form. While these are certainly helpful qualities in battling the challenges ahead, there is one tool to help you overcome the obstacles and push forward during the final stretch: knowledge.
Take the time to learn about the industry as a whole, how to think like a publisher, and what steps to take to create a successful book. Step by step, maneuver the book industry’s websites, discussion groups, newsletters, and advice forums.
Here are some importants sites and newsletters that will help you learn more about the industry. Check them out online!
Publishers Marketplace
Publishers Lunch
Publishers Weekly
Shelf Awareness
Yahoo Self Publishing Group
Publishing Basics
The best way to start a journey is to learn as much about your destination as possible. Once you know where you’re going, you’ll be able to plan your route to get there. So set your writing aside for the moment and explore the book industry and learn everything you can about that oh-so-important part of the publishing industry: the reader.
What To Send to a Bookstore Buyer?
When selling a book to the bookstores, libraries, and chains, remember that the people seeing your book sales kit see hundreds of sales kits a day. They will choose a very small percentage of the books they see. Your kit can make the difference between a purchase order and a politely worded e-mail (We regret to inform you …). When you send a package to a buyer for consideration, it is your first and perhaps only chance to impress them. Here is a checklist of what is recommended for inclusion in your package:
- Color printout of the cover on heavy, glossy paper.
- A bound ARC/galley or comb-bound manuscript if the book is finished. Sample chapters printed out if it is not.
- Fully outlined marketing and publicity plan
- One-page title information sheet with :
ISBN
Title
Subtitle
Author
Author bio
Author hometown
100-word description of book
Order contact information
Book category
Retail price
Page count
Trim size
Ship date
Publication date
Format
Print run
Co-op and advertising budget
Title and ISBN of previous books by author or in the series
Title and ISBN of books similar to yours
Top Ten Reasons Why Your English Teacher-Mother-Neighbor-Friend-Church Secretary Cannot Edit or Proof Your Book
- An avid reader with a red pen is not a good substitute for an editor who knows how to polish and refine another’s writing.
- The amateur editor or proof reader does not know all the elements to look for.
- They have not developed the years of training it takes to catch almost every mistake.
- They do not know the proper arc and format of each type of book.
- They do not know The Chicago Manual of Style standards for book publishing.
- They do not know how to code a manuscript for the designers.
- Yes, they catch every spelling mistake in their daily lives, but they do not catch every spacing, line setting, page number, and margin error.
- They are not practiced in working in the publishing industry. They cannot offer the advice and guidance that a professional can.
- They do not have the software and computer skills to work as efficiently as a professional.
- Hire an amateur, and you will might lose your chance to publish a good book and end up publishing a could-have-been-good book.
You Are What You Think
Okay everyone… I mean it. It is time to turn off CNN and stop obsessively reviewing every news feed about the economy.
I know the book industry (and most other industries) are in the crapper and that there are huge losses being reported every day.
But it’s time to get down to business. I’ve had enough of the hand wringing. I am sick of the culture of panic that we have all agreed to live with.
If it is true that we are what we eat, that we become, in large part, a sum of what we put in our bodies, than I believe that it is also true that we become a sum of what we put in our minds. I am not a huge fan of mind-body-hooey and can promise you that I will never read The Secret, but I do know this: We create our own reality.
If we spend all of our time being afraid of the future, we will not have the energy to improve that future. If we spend hours each day talking to cohorts about how bad things are, we are wasting opportunities to make them better.
I plan on spending some time each day working on ways to help my small, fledgling business survive this “down-turn”. Not only do I plan to survive, I plan to thrive.
People are going to need books and companies will need help coming up with creative ways to make and market books.
I can spend the next few months blaming everything on the market or I can start believing that every day hold new opportunities, even in a recession. I can either wallow in depression and accept defeat before it has arrived, or spend my day happy and excited, doing my best.
How are you going to spend your day?
How To Get The Cover Design You Should Have
It’s not hard to learn what a properly designed, professionally published book looks like. Thanks to Amazon and the Internet, you can do much of your research from home. A lot, but not all. Your fingers won’t be able to do all the walking. You also need to get your legs moving … up, down, and around the aisles of your local bookstore.
Internet chat rooms, industry magazines, and online bookstores can provide some good information, but if you are serious about becoming a savvy, market-driven publisher, you need to spend a great deal of time in the marketplace. It is time to get out from behind your desk and get out among the books.
When you get to the bookstore, wander up and down all the aisles … not just those of your favorite categories. With a pen and paper in hand, slowly pace around the store moving your head back and forth noting titles that jump out at you from the shelves. After six or seven aisles, go back and look at the books you wrote down. Were they face out? Were just the spines showing? If the books you noticed were spine-out, what do the spines have in common? Was the lettering large and easy to read? What colors were used?
Now go wander around the display tables—all the tables, not just the ones you would normally peruse. What cover do you notice first? Which books do you think about picking up? Write these titles down. Go to the next table and continue to notice your reaction. Write down the titles of the covers that draw your eye there. Once you have cruised all the tables and aisles, you will have a strong list of the spines and covers that appealed to you.
Your list from the bookstore is a great way to discover what you like in a cover. The next step is to find out what the bestselling books in your category look like. This can be done online. Go to Amazon or BN.com (or both) and pull up the top-selling books in your category. Scan through the covers and see what colors are hot right now. Check out the fonts and see what the books have in common. For example, for a while, many bestselling self-help books were yellow and blue. During that same period, a majority of the bestselling business books had white covers and huge lettering.
The colors, fonts, and looks that herald an up-to-date cover change constantly. Once you have done your research, don’t rest on your laurels. Return to the bookstore and check bestselling lists every month to stay current.
You have found what appeals to you and identified what a new bestselling book in your category looks like. Can you find a book on the bestseller list that has the qualities that appeal to you? Can you find two or three? Grab the covers from the Internet and make a file to later give to your cover designer.
D5 Creation